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I'm not THAT nice ^ ^

So every once in awhile I get emails from animation students who take it as their duty to tell me how technically flawed my work is... they point out that what I do would make they masters OH I mean teachers scold them for being bad animator drones... Now my initial reaction is to always think of my own quoteth ^ ^ "A persons advice can only go as far as they have gotten" BUT today as I got this mail after watching and reading a bunch of "filmmaking" podcasts and blogs that were totally focused on TECHNICAL issues I am writing public reply to said peoples.

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Well this may not make any sense to you since you are studying animation BUT the least important thing when making an animated FILM is the animation... NOW all the people all over the world who love WATS don't care that a lot of the animation was crude and crappy...WHY?! because its a FILM it has mood, emotion, feeling...a depth... They knew one d00d did his best to try to convey this emotion and to him the emotion was more important than the technical things.....

Note:
I AM NOT A STUDENT AT AN ANIMATION SCHOOL
I AM NOT AN EMPLOYEE AT AN ANIMATION STUDIO...NOR WILL I EVER BE.
I AM NOT A SLAVE. I DO WHAT I WANT.
I know you are taught to appease your masters but I have no master.

YES technical proficiency can enhance it of course BUT when one person is working on over 1000 shots alone in less than 3 years compromises have to be made... I had to choose... make the best technical film I can make OR make the best film I can make... I chose the best film and it was sucessful... if I made the best technical film it would not be a film it would be a DEMO REEL and I would still be working on it now... thousands of technically perfect films come and go everyday and no one cares WHY because they dont have the other things I mentioned that makes for a film... I was an artist FIRST then I learned animation.

Understand my philosophy? I DO NOT make films to be enjoyed by animators or technical people FORGET THEM because they job is to never be satisfied and nitpick over every little detail... i make films for PEOPLE.... and LIVING people connect with the emotion not technicalities... I don't go see films for the "special fx" myself...

Why do people love David Firth's animation? Why do they love KnoX's claymations? They are far from perfect technically but those d00ds have hundreds of thousands of fans and I'm sure they love making the stuff...... we are HUMAN after all... we want emotion not perfect fucking f-curves... animation supervisors want perfect f-curves not people.

So a choice needs to be made and I made mine... I serve the emotion.
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Now after saying that... yeh yeh I got the whole emotion thing down pat... my goal with HSM is also to make it so technically WIN these whiny animation students and nitpicky technical people will STFU and GTFO if I may be so bold in typing 4chan vernacular.

Yeh all these online "filmmakers" who whine about how x-camera doesn't have this feature so its not good enough to make films with OR X-computer or x-software isn't powerful enough to do "serious" work... most of these people also call they own films "content"...well... (cough) FUCK THEM and they CONTENT and they SERIOUS WORK... the truth is they are TERRIFIED at having to walk on the creative side for fear of failure so they keep making all these excuses so they don't even have to try... if you don't try you can't fail.. and if you haven't failed you can pretend to be some perfect expert in your own mind and try to stop other from trying the things your afraid to do.... Isn't this cycle sick?! YEH and its REAL!

YES those of us who TRY are not PERFECT... me make mistakes.... we have flaws... but we have made things that mean a lot to us and hopefully some other people too... animation students may sit every night and masturbate to demo reels but I don't think many other people do...

NOTHING alive is perfect! No real ART is PERFECT... to be FLAWLESS is to be frozen to be DEAD...EMOTION is ALIVE and in a constant state of movement... to be static is to be void of life... MACHINES can create technical perfection but HUMANS cannot.... I say celebrate our humanity... celebrate our differences and our "flaws" thats what makes us individuals...thats what makes things unique... so this is a bigger discussion which probably leads into the books of Ray Kurzweil and the worship of transhumanism by many unknowing human specimens... BUT I have to get back to work soooooooooo.....

So if your an inspired creative person don't let these technical FUX slow you down... do it your way BUT also learn the technical things yourself so you can tell them to kindly STFU and GTFO as well ^ ^

Comments

  1. I hear ya, M. Sorry you have to take all that shit from the technicians and students all the time. Still, I'll be there are a lot of students who love your work and dig your "self made artist" approach to creating things. School is tough because so much of it is stuck in a linear, vertical way of thinking: you only proceed with one perfect success after another as you work. In thinking laterally (borrowing from DeBono's book here) you make a mistake and it takes you someplace you wouldn't have gone before.

    And besides, it's about Emotions, as you say. Some of the worst (technically) films in the world move me like hell because the spirit is right, the feeling is right with the director.

    I got a degree from a big name school, but I wish I had spent my time like you did: just getting down and doing it my way. And learning, learning, learning all the time.

    We are our own schools.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yo - very well written M Dot. You're very right about emotion being better than perfection, at least in art, because to be an artist is to step outside the boundary of perfection and explore. You're also right about trying to do a good job at the technical stuff. Might as well shove it in these student's faces that you actually CAN make a well-made film. I mena, of course you want to aim for perfection, and they're right there. However, small technical mistakes don't really matter.

    Good Luck on finishing the movie up

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah - What Ricky said. And there is NO SUBSTITUTE for experience - all the schools in the world, all the classes you can take, all the "experts" you can site - they bring nothing to your work like real, honest, hard-won EXPERIENCE.

    Rock on Dude.

    ReplyDelete
  4. While animation schools can teach you win stuff and all, the sad thing about them is they are "Animation schools" they aren't film making schools or whatever they are just all about the technical side to it. So I say who do they think they are kidding when they tell you an idea is isnt good or that your movie isnt going to be a profitable product.
    All they are doing is making the flashy and the shiny stuff. They aren't gonna teach you how to make your story's alive or original. Of course nobody can teach you originality. It's somethin you have to find on your own I believe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wabi-sabi?

    Although I think wabi-sabi means something different in the world of CGI. Such as embracing the polygons rather than trying to hide them.

    Or maybe I just have a low poly fetish.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, don't listen to those mindless drones with their demo reels. I always say that if you want to nit pick about my film then go download a free copy of blender and get making your own film. And make it better than I did on mine. I actually want to see it when you're done.

    If all you have is a demo reel from your animation school then I will sit here drinking beer and laughing at it (especially when I see the lip syncing)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thought I'd share this quote from Gamasutra.com's coverage of the recent Penny Arcade Game convention that just finished in Seattle.

    At PAX, you can feel the love.
    I know, this sounds a little vague and group hug-like. But if you consider last year's PAX keynote from BioShock's Ken Levine and this year's from Monkey Island and DeathSpank creator Ron Gilbert, you'll see a common theme.

    It's not about how to make games or even how game developers should get inspired (as in Game Developers Conference keynotes). It's about how games make you feel. It's about the emotional response that you, I, and every gamer has to the artform. And that's a wonderful thing, and a hallmark of the entire Penny Arcade Expo experience.


    Sound familiar?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Masturbating to demo reels? M Dot
    you are so right on. That is so hilarious!

    I decided I'd better stay away from CGsociety for that very reason...

    ReplyDelete

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